The following information resources may offer victim assistance information, research findings, educational materials, or strategies for program and policy development specific to this topic. A general listing of all OVC publications is also available.

DNA: Critical Issues for Those Who Work With Victims (April 2007)
This 24-minute DVD (NCJ 211970), produced as part of the President's DNA Initiative, is intended to raise awareness for victim advocates, criminal justice practitioners, and others who work with crime victims about the issues involved for those whose cases involve DNA evidence. The DVD focuses on the collection and preservation of evidence, what the victim can expect as the case moves forward, victim notification during the process, victim involvement and participation in the process, and cold case investigations.

Criminal Victimization
This Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) series, issued every year, presents violent and property victimization estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey and homicide estimates from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program. The web page includes additional BJS publications on varying aspects of criminal victimization.

First Response to Victims of Crime (April 2008)
This educational multimedia package, produced by the National Sheriffs' Association, looks at the impact of crime on victims and describes steps that law enforcement can take, as first responders, to meet victims' needs. Among the types of victimizations covered are sexual assault, drunk driving, homicide, human trafficking, and mass casualties. The special needs of older victims, child victims, immigrants, and victims with disabilities are addressed as well. This 30-minute video is available in DVD (NCJ 211619) and VHS (NCJ 211618). A companion guidebook (PDF 470 kb) (NCJ 217272) is also available.

Implementing SANE Programs in Rural Communities: The West Virginia Regional Mobile SANE Project (June 2008)
Although Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs have spread throughout the country, they remain scarce in rural communities. OVC’s replication guide—available in print (NCJ 221749) and as an electronic publication (NCJ 221753)—highlights an OVC-funded demonstration project from the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (FRIS), which sought to  use on-call SANEs to serve hospitals throughout a four-county region in a rural area of West Virginia. The guide focuses on how the project was planned and implemented and the lessons learned by FRIS and other stakeholders. It also provides a checklist for other rural communities to use in replicating a similar project and access to materials developed during implementation.

Looking Back—Moving Forward: A Guidebook for Communities Responding to Sexual Assault, Workbook To Accompany Guidebook, and Training Guide (1993)
This OVC guide (NCJ 153768) is designed to help communities develop a training program for responding to sexual assault and write a protocol based on community needs and resources. The workbook is designed to complement the materials in the Guidebook and to assist Interagency Councils with organizing and carrying out the steps for developing and implementing multidisciplinary, multiagency, victim-centered protocol. The Training Guide is designed to prepare participants—agency and organizational representatives on the Sexual Assault Interagency Council (SAIC)—to write protocol.
Abstract and ordering information: Guidebook, Workbook, Training Guide

Managing Adult Sex Offenders in the Community—A Containment Approach (January 1997)
This NIJ Brief (NCJ 216151) discusses results of a national telephone survey identifying how probation and parole agencies managed adult sex offenders and a description of a model management process for containing sex offenders serving community sentences.

OVC National Directory of Victim Assistance Funding Opportunities 2001 (September 2001)
This OVC resource directory (NCJ 189218) lists by state and territory the contact names and information for federally funded crime victim assistance programs and includes particulars on grant programs that help state and local agencies prepare for and respond to incidents of domestic terrorism and criminal mass casualty.

Privacy of Victims' Counseling Communications (November 2002)
Eighth in the OVC Legal Series, this bulletin (NCJ 192264) provides an overview of state laws and issues related to the privacy of communications between victims and their counselors.

Sex Offenses and Offenders: An Analysis of Data on Rape and Sexual Assault (February 1997)
Draws on more than 24 BJS statistical datasets to provide an overview of violent victimization by sexual assault and the characteristics of the offenders who commit these crimes. Among the findings in this BJS report (NCJ 163392), a high percentage of the rape and sexual assault victims are children, and in 90 percent of the cases, they knew the offender.

Sexual Assault, National Victim Assistance Academy Text (2002)
The NVAA text emphasizes foundations in victimology and victims' rights and services, as well as new developments in the field of victim assistance, and contains a chapter on the needs of victims of rape and sexual assault.

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Development & Operation Guide (August 1999)
This OVC document (NCJ 170609) provides an effective model for sexual assault medical evidentiary exams and offers a multidisciplinary, victim-centered way of responding to sexual assault victims by outlining specific steps to replicate "best practices" for improving the response to victims.
ASCII (214 kb) or PDF (7 mb)

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Programs: Improving the Community Response to Sexual Assault Victims (April 2001)
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 186366) provides an overview of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs and their contributions to improving community response to sexual assault victims, identifies promising practices in such programs, and provides practical guidelines for establishing a SANE program.

Sexual Assault Victimization: An OVC Help Series Brochure (March 2002)
The OVC Help Series (BC 000669) is a set of 10 brochures that address eight categories of crime victimization—homicide, sexual assault, stalking, drunk driving, domestic violence, robbery, assault, and child abuse. Each brochure includes an overview of general crime facts, a description of what victims may experience, and suggestions for how to seek help. The brochures are intended to supplement the information victim service providers can offer and to give victims a resource they can easily refer to in a crisis. Also available in other languages.

The Sexual Victimization of College Women (December 2000)
An assessment on the extent and nature of the sexual victimization of college women, based on two national-level surveys, reveals that more than 350 rapes per year may occur on a campus with a population of 10,000 female students. The NIJ Report (NCJ 182369) presents the systematic analysis and other findings from the study cosponsored with Bureau of Justice Statistics.

State Legislators' Handbook for Statutory Rape Issues (February 2000)
This OVC handbook (NCJ 178238) discusses state legislative actions to address the issues of statutory rape and provides a framework for developing and analyzing legislation that would criminalize sexual intercourse with a minor based on the minor's age. It includes questions for each issue that legislators and policymakers should consider before drafting new legislation or amending existing laws.
HTML, ASCII (34 kb), or PDF (305 kb)

Strengthening Sexual Assault Victims’ Right to Privacy (April 2009)
This online guide (NCJ 226501), developed by Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc., provides recommendations to statewide sexual assault coalitions and rape crisis centers concerned with protecting sexual assault victims’ privacy. It addresses common challenges, discusses core concepts, and offers practical tips to maintain victim confidentiality to better serve victims.

Understanding DNA Evidence: A Guide for Victim Service Providers
This OVC bulletin (NCJ 185690) and brochure (BC 000657) offer victim service providers an understanding of how DNA testing may be used in victims' cases, the process and procedures used, and the potential outcomes from the test.
Bulletin (April 2001): HTML, ASCII (14 kb), or PDF (573 kb)
Brochure (May 2001): ASCII (14 kb) or PDF (360 kb)

Victim Services in Rural Law Enforcement (April 2009)
In the aftermath of crime, many victims in rural areas never receive the vital services necessary to begin recovery. Victim Services in Rural Law Enforcement (NCJ 226275) summarizes an OVC-sponsored project of the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Office of the Alabama Attorney General, which developed 17 models for establishing or enhancing rural victims’ assistance. This replication guide offers a blueprint for establishing local programs, outlining approaches, successes, and lessons learned.

Victim-Oriented Multidisciplinary Responses to Statutory Rape Training Guide (February 2000)
This OVC guidebook (NCJ 178237) raises the various problems law enforcement, prosecutors and victim service providers encounter in statutory rape cases and identifies promising practices in dealing with them.
ASCII (109 kb) or PDF (589 kb)